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This scandal is barely getting attention in the American press(Newspapers or ESPN television). From ESPN-

Renault parted company with flamboyant Formula One team boss Flavio Briatore and his deputy Pat Symonds on Wednesday after accepting allegations that last year’s Singapore Grand Prix was fixed.

The two men were due to appear before the governing FIA in Paris on Monday to face charges, unprecedented even in a sport often mired in controversy, that the team ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash deliberately to help Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso win.

Renault said in a statement it would not dispute the allegations.

“[Renault] also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore, and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team,” the team added.

Italian Briatore led the team to two Formula One constructors’ and drivers’ championships with Alonso in 2005 and 2006 after also winning titles with Benetton and Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995.

To maintain the integrity of their sport, Formula One will need to still come down on Renault. Renault admits they took actions to alter the outcome of a race. In other sports, people have gotten lifetime bans for such actions. If Formula One doesn’t want lose the confidence and trust of racing fans and its sponsors, they need to punish Renault very harshly.

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